Town Councilmember opposes Charter Commission changes on extension of terms for appointed councilmembers, new committee to set councilmember salaries

Proposals would go in front of voters in November

Fort Myers Beach Councilmember Rebecca Link raised objections to two main changes to the charter that the town’s charter review commission has proposed regarding the establishment of a salary committee appointed by the town council to determine salaries for councilmembers, and the extension of terms for appointed councilmembers.

Link opposed the proposal to change the length of terms for appointed councilmembers to be for the rest of the remaining term of the replaced councilmember, rather than the current rule until the next election. Under the current rule, a councilmember who is appointed to fill a vacancy, must run again at the next regularly scheduled election. Under the new rule proposed by the charter review commission, they would get to remain in their seats for the remainder of the term, which could be as many as three years depending on when in the term the vacancy occurs.

The proposed changes to the Town of Fort Myers Beach Charter are set to go in front of voters this November for a referendum, after being approved to go for a second reading by the town council. The council must still approve the changes to go on the ballot at a second reading of the charter changes that is expected at Monday’s council meeting.

The council approved moving forward with the changes on the ballot that were proposed by the Charter Review Commission, though some councilmembers had concerns about several of the changes.

Link also raised objections to the commission’s proposed institution of a salary commission to determine the salaries of councilmembers.

The issue of changing the length of terms for appointed councilmembers was brought to light in January when former Councilmember Jim Atterholt resigned. The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council replaced Atterholt with John McLean in February but were initially not sure how long the appointment would be for.

Town Attorney Nancy Stuparich interpreted that the town’s Charter calls for an appointed councilmember to serve until the next scheduled election, which is this November. However, Atterholt’s term didn’t end until November of 2028.

Under the new proposed rule, when a town council appoints someone to replace a councilmember who has resigned their seat, they would be able to serve the full length of the term. In McLean’s case, that would have meant serving until 2028 rather than having to run again this November to retain his seat.

“I don’t like taking that power away from the voter,” Link said. Link cited the town’s “intense development issues” currently as an example of why elections should be held more quickly, rather than allowing someone who has been appointed by town council to stay in office for the full length of a term. “What if it is three years?” Link said. “I think the voters should weigh in.”

Mayor Dan Allers said he shared some of the concern, saying that under the new rule you could have a situation where somebody could serve 12 years (if they get appointed days or weeks after someone resigns a seat they won). The town’s Charter limits councilmembers to two full terms. Stuparich said that means somebody could run for two additional full terms even if they were appointed to a seat where they keep that seat for three years under the proposed rule.

“Voters are the ones who vote us to these seats,” Allers said. “In John’s (McLean) case, he would be there until 2028 until Atterholt’s seat came up for re-election (under the new changes).”

Vice Mayor Scott Safford, who was the town council’s liaison to the Charter Review Commission, said “the fear is if you lose that 3-2, you have 4-1 or 5-0, there are always political swings. The people can vote on this. It’s not us or the committee. At the end of the day, it’s the people that can change the charter.”

The ballot with the proposed charter review changes, will give the public an opportunity to vote for or against each of the proposals.

Link also opposed the measure which would require the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council to create and appoint a salary review commission who would meet every four years to make proposals for changes to the town council’s salaries.

Link said it was a mistake to create a commission to set the salaries of the councilmembers. “I don’t think our salaries should be compared to market – it is part service and part compensation. I am afraid that if we move to this model that could erode the public trust,” Link said.

“We would be moving our salaries to a committee that we appoint to set our salaries. That would be a big change from what we currently do. My recommendation is we put our salary in the charter and with cost of living adjustments. Not by comparing our salary to others. This is not like employees being compensated. This is a public service. When I see us going to this model, that gets us compared to larger towns like Tallahassee.”

The councilmembers currently receive a cost of living adjustment increase annually and some councilmembers have complained that their salaries don’t meet the work they do for the job.

Fort Myers Beach Mayor Dan Allers currently earns $20,053 for the part-time job, while all other councilmembers receive $17,546 annually for their part-time work. Under the town’s charter, the mayor is appointed by the town’s councilmembers.

Allers defended the salary commission proposal. “What this does at least in my mind is it puts together a committee that makes a recommendation. It could go up one year or goes down one year. To me, it brings flexibility,” Allers said. “All that’s changing is a committee would be formed to make recommendation to town council.”

The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council would still have to vote to approve increases to their salary if the salary commission makes such a recommendation.

Safford said an increase to the council’s salaries was needed. The cost of living adjustment that councilmembers currently receive “doesn’t really match inflation, especially with what we witnessed a few years ago. It is an overall formula,” Safford said.

“We risk moving from a public service model to a professionalized model for what HR would do for staff,” Link argued.

Safford said that “Naples has a blue ribbon committee” that determines the salaries of councilmembers.

“Naples is much bigger than us,” Link responded.

“They are just making a recommendation to insulate us from any political backlash,” Safford said. “They are going to look at it objectively. This job is a whole lot different than it was six years ago or 10 years ago.”

Safford said the Charter Review Commission, which was chaired by James Dunlap, wants an “objective analysis” on what the salaries should be.

Safford said that the “banker guys and the business people on the committee said COLA (cost of living adjustment) just doesn’t match up with inflation, especially with spikes.”

The town council ultimately moved the proposals to a second reading, expected to take place at the council’s next meeting on Monday.